"A winning plot ...." Kirkus Discoveries. With a skeleton comes lust, stolen money, secrets, a clue, and mystery amidst emerging 1960s feminism in rural Iowa. Clear, consistently readable prose, wrote a Writers' Digest judge. First in a diverse trilogy of skeleton mysteries.
"A winning plot...." Kirkus Discoveries.
A winning character....Writers' Digest judge.
Respected, church-going Sarah Hamilton anguishes for a decade with an emotional skeleton living in her mind's closet. The consequences to her of one act of forbidden lust do not disappear. The past sin, plus the death of her young daughter, still haunts her despite her passionate quest to live only in the future.
When a real human skeleton is found entombed in her town's old factory, Sarah is caught not only with the prospect of her secret becoming devastating town gossip, but of having her husband and adopted daughter drawn into solving a ten-year mystery disappearance in A Body To Bones.
One clue, surmised to be scratches of initials made by the skeleton before dying, implicates more than one resident as the potential killer in Sarah's town of 842, where her husband publishes the weekly Pioneer Ledger.
Village gossip, missing diverted church money, unexplained lights and footprints, tension, and unfulfilled dreams are a prelude to real life-threatening peril when Sarah finds out the skeleton's killer still resides in her town, ready to kill again.
And, she's the killer's target.
Excerpt
An excerpt of novel "A Body To Bones" can be found within the story section of Donan Berg's den at AuthorsDen.com.
Professional Reviews
Excellent Book
This was an excellent book! I have always enjoyed mysteries, especially the ones from the 1940s-1970s, written by authors like Doris Miles Disney, etc. I always found them most enjoyable because it seems that the characters were more fleshed out, and the storyline was fuller; with more of the emphasis on the story and moving the plot along than with unnecessary sex scenes or graphic violence.
Author Donan Berg takes us back to that style of writing and mystery telling with this novel. A small town, where everyone seems to know everyone else's business. The town is shook to it's foundations when skeletal remains are found in an unused factory outside of town. All the mysteries of the last 20 years come to light, as people in town wonder...is it the body of a well-loved Catholic priest, who "left town" unexpectedly over 10 years ago? Or the remains of a woman who was thought to have left her husband around the same time...or maybe someone who just had wondered into town and met with trouble. The main characters include a likable newspaper editor/publisher, his wife and adopted daughter, her boyfriend, the local sheriff, and assorted town folk. The story builds well, and while the killer is a surprise, it all comes together nicely at the end. I found this to be a greatly enjoyable book, well written and filled with intrigue, suspense and drama.
I look forward to other materials by this author.
Reviewed 9/14/09 by Lauri Coates.
Motives, Twisted Plot
The plot of A Body To Bones takes many false turns and keeps the reader speculating on the identity of the suspected murderer. The characters ... add to the fun of the story.
Quill says: A Body To Bones offers a story that will have readers questioning the motives of almost all the characters caught in the twisted plot. Reviewed by www.featheredquill.com
Winning Character
"He (Berg) manages to create a winning character in Sarah Hamilton. Berg makes her demons believable and understandable. This is Berg's strength...." Writers' Digest judge.
Reading the Prologue of Berg's first book certainly will grab readers and have them continue to learn what happens! Ten years has passed for Sarah Hamilton with a burden hanging over her--becoming pregnant with a child by another man... Clearly she had not yet felt God's forgiveness for her act... I have often thought that God sees our contrite heart and forgives us long before we are able to fully accept that... Then, too, what of the man who had been involved? Had he even thought to seek forgiveness, especially when we later learn, that Sarah was not the only woman with whom he had been involved... The small-town intrigue and gossip is alive and well in Clinton...
The morality of the characters in the novel plays an important part as, ten years later, a body is found...or should I say, bones of a body... For this skeleton had missing bones that soon became part of the mystery...
But before then, we learn more about the lives in Clinton a small town, of less than 900...for, of course, each is known and involved in some way in those events that the Pioneer Ledger shares to its readers once a week. Sarah and her husband are well-known and respected, and involved with local church activities.
Sarah Hamilton is married to the editor/owner. One of those moral issues she has suffered under was her mother's dictates of how a Christian woman should act. One definitely was that she should take care of the home and not work outside it. But the Hamiltons actually lived in the building where the newspaper was created and printed... and her husband really did need her help. So, while agreeing to help with the paper, once more she buried her personal feelings of guilt and sense of doing something wrong... I had great sympathy for this woman living very much like I did in a small town...
Throughout the story, the Hamiltons, not only because of their news-gathering activities, remain involved...We soon learn that there had been two disappearances around the mid-50s... One of them was the wife of the neighbor of the Hamiltons, who also owned a large warehouse in which the bones were later found. The other was the disappearance of a local priest...
The officials, including local and federal, do an excellent job in pulling the investigation together and the created characters add greatly to the enjoyment of the hunt for whodunit! And the possible villains, including even Sarah, are explored as we learn more about the bodies, keeping us guessing. My intuition was right again, but the author keeps readers on the edge until almost the end of the book, as Sarah faces danger from the killer!
I was pleased how the author allowed our main character's family to come together after all that had happened and we find a quite satisfactory ending after more than a decade of hidden secrets... A solid whodunit mystery that I highly recommended!
GABixlerReviews
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Reviewed by Brittany Dalton
6/28/2018
The lenghty descriptions of the characters helped recognize all of the clues. The masterful way Berg unwined them show his creativity and the depths of his story.Sara and Thomas were great characters and followed the plot as well. A body to bone will make you bored fast and have you wondering how they will be solved. Several twist during the book. I going myself disappointed by the ending.
Reviewed by E Harris
6/25/2018
Ten years ago Sarah Hamilton made a mistake. Never far from her mind were the reminders of the consequences. Not wanting to dwell on the past, she tried to look towards the future. This was not to be when an investigation into recently found skeletal remains threatens not only her secrets, but her safety as well. Will she survive the turmoil?
The author has crafted an intriguing and suspenseful mystery novel. The tension builds slowly and keeps the reader engrossed throughout. When least expected, the narrative takes unexpected twists and turns. The well drawn characters are an interesting group as are their roles in the story. I found this to be a well written and engrossing novel. Highly recommended.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. The opinions expressed are my own.
Reviewed by Laura H.
5/8/2018
The meticulous and lengthy descriptions of the characters in this story are an integral piece of recognizing the clues.
The masterful way Berg entwined them into the story shows the extent of his creativity, imagination, and depth of writing.
As a debut novel, this book deserves the praise it has received. If this publication is any indication, this writer has a prolific career ahead as a novelist.
The twisting and turning storyline keeps the reader enthralled and wondering 'who done it' and 'why' to the end. What this reader supposed happened and why--was way off!
The reader quickly becomes invested in the character's lives as horrific findings are unveiled.
The complex secrets, lives changed, and Sarah's role--brings the town and its events into focus. Sarah's difficult decisions and finally confrontation with the past are written beautifully.
The book highlights how incredibly complicated a police investigation is and how the simplest observation, say: a key, can change the future of an entire town.
This reader is looking forward to reading the next novel in this series. One can hope it is as well-written and engaging as this one. Also a big plus is the price is reasonable.
Very good story. Was interested immediately! Sarah and Thomas were great characters to follow, as was the plot. "A Body To Bones" will bring you on board immediately and have you wondering how it will be solved. Several twists throughout the book. I found myself disappointed when I reached the ending, as I would have loved a few more chapters closing all character's story line. Great read! One of those books that you can't put down! I would love to read more works by Donan Berg.
Book eight in my Belinda Lawrence Classic Mysteries. Mysteries confront amateur sleuths, Belinda Lawrence and Hazel Whitby in the Somerset village of Milford.
Among the eccentrics is the shadowy Madam Malefic.
Dallas attorney Stan Turner hates criminal law but has a propensity for attracting murder cases anyway. So, it's no big surprise when a simple attorney-ad-litem appointment in family court evolves into a complex murder trial.
